Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti today said the five-decade old boundary dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka can be solved only if Chief Minister Ashok Chavan takes a "strong stand" on the issue.
Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti today said the five-decade old boundary dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka can be solved only if Chief Minister Ashok Chavan takes a "strong stand" on the issue.
"Maharashtra Government had passed a resolution to incorporate Marathi-speaking population of Karnataka in the state. So, it is the responsibility of the chief minister to speak to the Centre," Samiti leader Kiran Thakur told PTI.
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"Karnataka is taking undue advantage of the fact that Maharashtra has not taken a strong stand on the issue and therefore over 20 lakh Marathi-speaking people are suffering there.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramdas Kadam had yesterday said that if BJP Government in Karnataka continued atrocities against Marathi people, Shiv Sena would snap ties with the saffron ally.
Reacting to this, senior PWP leader N D Patil today said the real issue is beyond Kadam's "authority and power". It is for the Central Government to decide, he said.
"Even if both the CMs come to a conclusion, they would have to approach Centre for final approval. It is the Centre's jurisdiction to decide on boundary between two states," Patil said.
Marathi-speaking population in Belgaum, Khanapur and Nipani in north Karnataka have been demanding inclusion in Maharashtra since the reorganisation of states five decades ago.
About 80 per cent of population in Belgaum and Khanapur talukas is Marathi speaking. The border row between the two states was re-ignited on Friday after the Karnataka legislative session began in Belgaum and Marathi people protesting the session were lathicharged and N D Patil was arrested.
On why the issue was not solved when the NDA was in power at Centre, Thakur said, "our delegation had met the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee twice." "We had also requested the then Speaker of Lok Sabha and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi.
But the issue remained unsolved." Thakur demanded that till a final decision is taken on the issue, Belgaum, Khanapur and Niapani should be declared as Central Administered.
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